Commonwealth v. Martin

9 Pa. D. & C.2d 775, 1956 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 138
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Bucks County
DecidedJune 29, 1956
Docketno. 122
StatusPublished

This text of 9 Pa. D. & C.2d 775 (Commonwealth v. Martin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Bucks County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Martin, 9 Pa. D. & C.2d 775, 1956 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 138 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1956).

Opinion

Rubin, J.,

Relator Edward Fox, was arrested in Doylestown on February 14, 1948, and committed to Bucks County prison for a further hearing. On February 16, 1949, after hearing before Justice of the Peace Gulick of Doylestown, he was held for court and committed to the Bucks County prison pending trial on various charges of burglary, larceny, receiving stolen goods and violation of the- Uniform Firearms Act. On February 26, 1948, upon presentation of a warrant by two Philadelphia police officers to the warden of the Bucks County prison and with [776]*776the consent of the district attorney of Bucks County, the relator was released to the Philadelphia County authorities. On a complaint sworn to on March 1, 1948, charging relator with robbery in Bucks County, a detainer was lodged on this charge with the Philadelphia authorities. Three transcripts were filed by Justice of the Peace Gulick on March 22, 1948, and one transcript by Justice of the Peace Horace Cooper on March 10, 1948, the latter being on the robbery charge. On April 14, 1948, while still in the custody of the Philadelphia County authorities, relator pleaded guilty to criminal offenses before the late Judge Harry S. McDevitt of Philadelphia County and was sentenced to imprisonment in the Eastern State Penitentiary for a term of not less than 10 years nor more than 30 years, such sentence to be computed from March 5, 1948, which was the date of commitment of relator in Philadelphia County.

On May 18, 1948, while relator was serving the above mentioned sentence imposed by the late Judge McDevitt, bills of indictment nos. 24, 25, 26 and 27, May term, 1948, charging relator with the offenses before mentioned, were submitted to a grand jury in Bucks County and true bills found.

On May 23, 1950, relator was returned to Bucks County for trial on bills of indictment, nos. 24, 25 and 26, May term, 1948, bill no. 24 charging him with violation of the Uniform Firearms Act, bill no. 25 charging him with larceny and receiving stolen goods, bill no. 26 charging him with burglary, larceny and receiving stolen goods. Although relator had indicated his desire to plead guilty to the charges at the hearings before Justice of the Peace Gulick,. he nevertheless pleaded not guilty to all three bills of indictment when arraigned before President Judge Hiram H. Keller of Bucks County and thereupon was put on trial for those offenses. After two days of trial, relator changed [777]*777his plea from not guilty to guilty on bill no. 26 and on the second count of bill no. 24 in which he was charged with carrying a firearm without a license. Bill no. 25 and the first count of bill no. 24 were nolle prossed. Relator, at this time, also pleaded guilty to bill no. 27 for which he was not on trial.

Judge Keller sentenced the relator on bill no. 26 to pay the costs of prosecution, a fine of $5 and that he undergo imprisonment in the State Penitentiary for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, for a period of not less than five years nor more than 10 years, to begin and be computed from the expiration of the aggregate minimum sentence which the relator then was undergoing, imposed by the courts of Philadelphia County. Judge Keller imposed a similar sentence on bill no. 27 to run concurrently with the sentence imposed on bill no. 26. Sentence was suspended on the second count of bill no. 24.

Upon this state of the record the sentence of Judge Keller would have been computed from March 5, 1958. On December 9, 1955, however, the sentence imposed by Judge McDevitt was commuted by the pardon board from a minimum of 10 years to a minimum of 7 years, 10 months, 9 . days so that the minimum sentence expired on December 19, 1955. The parole board on December 31, 1955, established January 4, 1956, as the release date for relator on his Philadelphia sentence, subject to the detainer for reentry to serve the sentence imposed by President Judge Hiram H. Keller. He therefore commenced serving his Bucks County sentence on January 4, 1956, and is presently incarcerated under that sentence.

Relator presented a petition for writ of habeas corpus in propria persona upon which a rule to show cause was issued, to which an answer was filed by respondent. Thereafter the court directed that a hear[778]*778ing be had for the purpose of permitting relator to present such testimony in support of his petition and such argument in support of the reasons set forth therein as might be pertinent and relevant. Relator contends that the sentence imposed by Judge Keller must be computed from February 14, 1948, the date on which he was first committed to Bucks County prison. He argues that his removal from Bucks County prison by the Philadelphia authorities to that jurisdiction was illegal and without warrant in law and that therefore he has been in the custody of the Bucks County authorities since February 14, 1948. This, notwithstanding the fact that he was then serving a sentence imposed for another crime committed in Philadelphia County, after submitting himself to the jurisdiction of the Philadelphia courts and entering a plea of guilty to the offenses with which he was charged. If this argument were accepted, the result would be to make the sentence of Judge Keller in Bucks County run concurrently with that of Judge McDevitt in Philadelphia County.

Relator cannot, at this time, raise the question of the impropriety or the illegality of his release by the Bucks County authorities to the Philadelphia authorities. This should have been done at the time of his transfer or at least prior to his plea of guilty in Philadelphia courts. Not only did he not do this, but he submitted himself to the jurisdiction of Philadelphia County and served the sentence imposed as modified by the pardon board on his application thereto. We are not concerned with the propriety of the Philadelphia sentence, since relator acquiesced therein, and raised no question as to its validity.

Relator’s argument that he was not in custody of the Philadelphia authorities while serving the sentence imposed by Judge McDevitt, but on the contrary was still imprisoned under his original commitment by the [779]*779Bucks County authorities on February 14, 1948, falls of its own weight. He was brought back to Bucks County from the Eastern State Penitentiary for trial on a writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum. This writ does not take the custody of the party who is desired to be brought into court from the custody of the person or institution to which he has been committed. Although produced in court, he is still in charge of the warden or other officer who is designated as his custodian: Commonwealth ex rel. v. Rotan, 82 Superior Ct. 172, 176.

Relator also contends that under the Act of May 28, 1937, P. L. 1036, 19 PS §894 et seq., his Bucks County sentence must be computed from February 16, 1948. The act provides as follows:

“Section 1. From and after the passage of this Act, all sentences for criminal offenses of persons who at the time sentence is imposed are held in custody in default of bail, or otherwise, shall begin to run and be computed from the date of commitment for the offense for which said sentence shall be imposed, unless the person sentenced shall then be undergoing imprisonment under a sentence imposed for any other offense or offenses, in which case the said sentence shall begin to run and be computed, either from the date of imposition thereof or from the expiration of such other sentence or sentences, as the Court shall, in its discretion, direct. (Italics supplied.)

“Section 2.

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Related

Commonwealth Ex Rel. Accobacco v. Burke
60 A.2d 426 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1948)
Commonwealth Ex Rel. Lerner v. Smith, Warden
30 A.2d 347 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1942)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
9 Pa. D. & C.2d 775, 1956 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 138, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-martin-pactcomplbucks-1956.